Well, the Falcons did just that last Friday night when they won the crown in the annual Dons' Club Holiday Tournament at Del Mar. Saratoga edged Pioneer 55-54 in the finals to claim the tourney title.

The performance should have come as no surprise to Yeilding, whose Falcons are off to a quick 9-3 start in the 2003­04 campaign. After all, he expects big things from his veteran squad this year.

"We should have a good team if all of our players accept their roles," said Yeilding as he looked ahead to the season. "I'm confident that they will."

They certainly did in the Del Mar tourney. And a couple of them played their roles so well that they won post-tournament honors.

Senior guard Tiffany Tan was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Victoria Liu, another senior guard, was picked to the all-tournament team.

Tan pitched in 14 points, including three three-pointers, to lead the Falcons to the 55-54 win over the Mustangs in the tourney finals. Liu also hit three threes and added three points at the free-throw line to finish with 12 points.

Big 5-foot-10 junior forward Bryte Nielson, fresh off of a super season on the Saratoga volleyball court, supported with 10 points on five buckets from the floor, and junior forward Julia Anderson also finished with 10 points.

Amy Yee, a senior forward, had a three among her five points and senior forward Hannah Gladwell had four points.

Westmont, meanwhile, clinched third place in the tourney with a 40-32 win over Del Mar. Rachel Gellman, who also won all-tourney honors, led the Warriors with 16 points, drilling six buckets from the field and added four free throws.

Joining Gellman in twin figures was Jennifer Takaki, who hit 10 points in the win. Ann Baumgardner canned four shots from the floor to finish with eight points and Lesley Makishima added six points.

Westmont opened up a 20-13 lead by intermission and went on to record the eight-point victory.

Both the Warriors and Dons boasted 8-6 season records after the game.

Boys win two of three

The Saratoga boys won two of three games last week, sandwiching a 65-56 loss to Lambrick Park with wins over The King's Academy (63-48) and Leland (54-41). The Falcons are now 10-5 for the year.

Irving Chien, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, got hot from the outside on his way to an 18-point night to lead the Falcons to the win over Leland on Saturday night at Saratoga. Chien had four three-pointers among his six field goals and added two points at the free-throw line.

Danny Wallace, Saratoga's 6-foot-3 center, was tough inside, tossing in 15 points to join Chien in double digits.

Adam Sato supported with six points and Aron Mitsunaga had a three among his five points. Nima Rad also hit a three-pointer.

Saratoga opened the week with the win over King's Academy. The Falcons actually trailed the Knights 32-26 at the half and 44-36 after three quarters before turning it on in the final period to outscore King's 23-4 to claim the 15-point win.

It was Adam Metsuura with the hot had in this one, tossing in four three-pointers and a couple of field goals to finish with 16 points. Rad joined Metsuura in double figures with 10 points, including a three.

Wallace added nine points, Chien seven, Mitsunaga and Chris Etterman five apiece, Matt Russell four, Sato three and David Orasin and David Kao two each. Etterman hit a three.

Wallace had a big night in Saratoga's loss to Lambrick Park. The junior center jammed 26 points, including 11 field goals and four free throws.

Rad tossed in 10 points and Chien supported with nine points. Both hit three-point buckets. Russell added six points, Mitsunaga three and Kenny Baba two.